Gerakan Wanita Deputy Chief Datuk Ng Siew Lai is concerned with the repeated incidences related to the security of kindergartens which is posing great threat to children’s safety. Datuk Ng was referring to the incident where 30 small children were held hostages in a kindergarten in Muar yesterday.

Datuk Ng urges all kindergartens to tighten their security by ensuring that no strangers can easily trespass the compound of the kindergarten. She also said that hiring a security guard is no longer a luxury but a necessity nowadays.

“The heart pounding incident may not take place should the kindergarten hire a security guard,” said Datuk Ng who is also Penang Gerakan Wanita chief. It was reported that the kindergarten had been operating for 3 years without a security guard.

She added, it is the responsibility of the kindergarten operators to tighten the security, but hiring a security guard is not the only solution to solve the problem. Datuk Ng is in the opinion that children need to be educated to be aware of strangers. Apart from hiring a security guard and instilling safety awareness in kids, Datuk Ng says that the infrastructure of the building should also be improved for safety purpose.

Datuk Ng also urges the police to increase the number of patrols at areas around kindergartens in order to reduce the chances of such incident from recurring in the future.